242 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE 



by placing the colony on combs of honey 

 that are not contaminated with infection. 



dzierzon's description of the treatment 

 of the " malignant form " of foul 

 brood (american foul brood ). 



" With this the question at most is how 

 the owner of the diseased stocks may come 

 otf with least loss. First of all, the queen 

 may be made use of, and must be caught as 

 quickly as possible, if the whole stock is 

 not immediately cashiered. But if the bees 

 that have been made queenless should have 

 removed all the foulness up to the time of 

 the hatching and fertilizing of the queen it 

 does not do to rely on having obtained a 

 healthy stock. The disease would soon ap- 

 pear in gi'eater severity than before, be- 

 cause, in the mean time, the poison has 

 probably permeated the accumulated brood 

 food all the more completely. We hasten, 

 therefore, to take out the queen again as 

 soon as she has become fertile, and after 

 some time we put a queen-cell into the stock 

 again, or clear out the hive, using the honey 

 for any purpose other than bee-food, which 

 might be given to brood. 



" But if we still cherish the hope of 

 recovering a healthy stock from the bees 

 they must be subjected to a similar but 

 longer treatment than that already describ- 

 ed. After they have been kept two or three 

 days shut up in an airy vessel without 

 food, or with food given very sparingly, 

 they are put into a new hive, the queen 

 being kept caged for some time, partly for 

 the sake of preventing the laying of eggs, 

 partly to hinder their going off, to which 

 such a stock is much disposed. But to put 

 in a comb of brood, or even larger combs, 

 is not advisable, because the stock ought to 

 work up all the nutritive material it has by 

 it as much as possible into was, so as not 

 to deposit it in the cells. Notwithstanding 

 that, the stock may at last be up and away, 

 or show itself again foul-broody so that all 

 the time and care bestowed on its cure is 

 lost. It is better, therefore, to make short 

 work of it, break out the contents of the 

 diseased hives, make the best you can of 

 them, and buy in their place healthy breed- 

 ing-stocks." 



The prime essential in the treatment of 

 the " malignant form " (American foul 

 brood) as described by Dr. Dzierzon is, 

 avowedly, to have all the diseased food the 

 bees may have with them, when deprived of 

 their combs, consumed or made into wax 

 during the time they are caged and before 

 the queen is allowed to deposit eggs. With 

 the aid of comb foundation the same end 

 is accomplished by placing the bees and 



queen oij very narrow starters of comb 

 foundation for three or four days and then 

 shaking on to full sheets after McEvoy, or 

 by shaking the bees directly on to the full 

 sheets, omitting the first shake, as recom- 

 mended by other operator's, the latter being 

 less exhausting to the colony, but probably 

 not so sure a cure. 



The fundamental principle upon which 

 the treatment of European foul brood de- 

 pends is the suspension of brood-rearing 

 for a time sufficient for the bees to clear 

 the combs of diseased matter, or for con- 

 ditions to obtain in wliich the brood will 

 not be fed with contaminated food and 

 bees sufficiently vigorous to do a thoro job 

 of cleaning. That of American foul brood 

 is the destruction or sterilizing of all combs 

 that have ever contained diseased matter, 

 and by forcing the bees to consume, or con- 

 vert into wax, all honey they may have with 

 them, when deprived of their combs, before 

 breeding is resumed, thus destroying all 

 traces of the disease. 



It will be observed that these principles 

 were recognized and described by Dr. 

 Dzierzon, and that modern methods of 

 treatment are but variations and elabora- 

 tions of those described by him. 



Foul brood, like most infectious diseases 

 that attack animal life, loses half its teii'ors, 

 and more, when effective means of abate- 

 ment or cure are available. Most states and 

 provinces have enacted good laws, backed 

 by liberal appropriations, to safeguard the 

 interests of apiculture, under which capable 

 bee-inspectors are brought to the very door 

 of the apiarist " without money and with- 

 out price." Practical educational demon- 

 stration in the treatment of these diseases 

 is, therefore, within the reach of all, when 

 the disease is present, wherever such laws 

 are in force. 



Besides all this, and what should be more 

 fruitful of encouragement and confidence 

 than all else, many beekeepers, including 

 some of the most extensive honey-produc- 

 ers, have demonstrated in their own api- 

 aries that the foul-brood situation can be 

 mastered ; that the good crops of honey that 

 they secured before the disease overtook 

 them are still obtainable, and that expan- 

 sion of their apicultural business may be 

 undertaken with certainty of success. Why, 

 then, need any beekeeper quail at the ap- 

 proach or appearance of the disease in his 

 apiary ? 



Kenmore, N. Y. 



[This is the last of a series of four arti- 

 cles by Mr. Hershiser on the history and= 

 treatment of foul brood. — Ed.] 



